A lot has to be taken into consideration when designing a logo: colour scheme, brand message, typography - it’s all important. We’re going to take a look at three logos the team here at New Socks Media have designed for a variety of clients, and the processes behind them.
Our most recent client is InstaMessage, a multi-channel chat site for businesses. It combines mass marketing with one-on-one conversations, uniting WhatsApp, Live Chat, email and SMS all in one place. They needed a logo that reflected this personal approach to business conversations.
A brand workshop allowed us to delve deeper into this idea, emerging with the proposal of an interactive character as the logo. These workshops are designed to encourage the team to identify the look and feel of their brand, tone of voice, customers, and their beliefs and values. InstaMessage wanted to appear professional and cohesive, but with that personal touch. Together, we therefore began to piece together a cheeky, approachable-looking logo that represented InstaMessage’s values.
As he came to life, we gave him the name Bob and solidified his design. His tail shape is that of the messages he looks after, consistent with the feel of the site itself. By animating his eyebrows, we gave him a personality. We felt this matched with the personal feel you gain from using the site, where businesses have direct conversations with their clients. In the end, the logo fitted seamlessly with the site itself.
Network Rail are the owner and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. They asked us to help create a new identity for their digital transformation team - Digital Factory. Naturally, this meant we had to dive deep into their brand, understanding the team’s history, and then where the brand was heading.
We ran an identity and branding workshop with the Digital Factory team, and soon learned that they wanted a ‘think differently’ approach to be reflected in the design of their logo. Together we created three customer personas which reflected the three types of people Digital Factory were championing. After understanding their new values and desires for the future of the team, we were able to put some initial designs on paper.
We presented three printed stylescapes, one for each persona. A stylescape is a visual representation of a range of ideas for the brand’s image. They combine typography, colour schemes and graphics in a kind of moodboard. Presenting our ideas in this way allowed the Digital Factory team to pick and choose which elements they loved and felt were most appropriate for their new brand. Taking all feedback on board, we were able to present the final design which combined two ideas;
Letters were disrupted to express the Digital Factory’s disruptive nature within their industry and we literally “broke the mould”, breaking the text through the safe boundary to signify how the team take risks.
We accumulated the different elements of the process into a book, which we gifted to Network Rail after delivering the final product.
We were approached by this vehicle warranty provider to create a new logo for their company. Warranty First partner with car dealerships across the UK, and have thousands of active policy holders. They wanted a logo they could be proud of, with a softer, more approachable identity.
As with most of our clients, we first wanted to learn more about the brand itself, so we ran a workshop with their team. This involved exploring their brand’s voice and appearance, as well as focussing on the impression they wanted to make on their clients. From this, we were able to create three concepts for the logo design.
From there, we worked together to agree on a finalised form of the logo. The graphic consists of two core elements; the letter ‘W’ as a monogram, and diamonds to represent quality and security. The final logo reinforced that approachable identity, whilst maintaining a sense of pride.
Our methods for designing a logo are very similar for each company, regardless of their size or brand. The important part is honing in on their specific style, and maintaining a conversation with the client. By keeping them involved in the process, we can ensure that the final product meets their expectations, and keeps in line with their values.
We look forward to the future of logo design, and are excited to be a part of more design processes with our partners as they continue to grow and develop.
